Today I finally had the chance to test out my new trail shoes from Altra. I hadn't heard much about the brand until the recent hive of activity via the usual social networks invaded my interest. The model I've purchased is the Altra Lone Peak 1.5 (new for 2013) from Likeys (probably the best trail and adventure shop in the world) located Brecon and online.
According the Altra's website they were designed to cope with the gnarly rocky mountainous and technical trails of the Wasatch 100 mile race (Utah) in mind. I won't be travelling as far to test these shoes, so I've decided to give them a bashing on similar terrain, the rugged sandstone trails of the Brecon Beacons mountain range.
The route was a short and sharp ascent up and over the peaks of Corn Du and Pen y Fan from the infamous red phone box of the Storey Arms outward bound center. This is also the start point if the Fan Dance Race and the Pen Y Fan Race. I had a little warm up mainly to get used to the feel of the shoe and quickly realised that I needed to tighten laces over the bridge of the foot to stop my foot bashing into the toe box on the descents.
So with an average gradient of 20% I dug in at a comfortable pace and began to ascend the sandstone path to Corn Du at 873 m (2,864 ft). First impressions were positive, they felt fast and agile and the "Mountain Footbed" felt comfortable. Also the StoneguardTM rode the terrain extremely well with no sharp stabbing sensation off the sandstone rocks. As I approached the cwm (valley) of Blaen Taf Fawr I crossed the stream via a few chosen rocks that were wet and greasy with ease and continued my way up and out of the cwm to Corn Du. On approaching the peak the wind picked up to storm force, gusting to 70mph (in my estimation) partner that with the hands on rock gradient of 35%, the Altra's stuck like shit on a shovel. With all that in mind I still managed a PB (PR if you're American) of 30mins 17s and moved up into 9th overall on Strava. Get in!!! From here I made my way over to the parent peak of Pen y Fan 886 m (2,907 ft) at pace, which wasn't planned, I had know choice with a 70mph tailwind up my arse.
Once I reached the top, I composed myself and caught breath in anticipating for the descent of the notorious Jacobs Ladder. The integrated TrailRudderTM coped extremely well with the -36.6% gradient (at its steepest) and exuded confidence to tackle it at a relatively fast pace. As I reached my turnaround point I popped a PowerBar shot, composed myself and assumed the standing start position to take on the dreaded ascent of Jacobs Ladder, with the prospect of setting a Strava segment record...
...Unfortunately it wasn't to be, I was 41s off the CR of 6:54 set by James Appleton in September 2013 (one day soon Appleton, one day soon). Oh and by the way, just for the record, I was running into a headwind of storm force gusts. There's was no time to hang around and take photos today that wind was coming over the top strong enough top blow my but into Brecon. This left only the descent of the Corn Du back to the Old Red Telephone Box of Storey Arms and cup of coffee. Or as I call the descent (descent dɪˈsɛnt/ noun 1. an act of moving downwards, dropping, or falling.) "Death of a Trail Runner" (see strava segment).
The ability that this shoe gives you to descend at a very high speed and still believe your in complete control is truly amazing and at no time did I ever get the thought 'Slow down, you're going to fall'. The Altra in my humble opinion will compete with the likes of the Salomon LAB Sense Mantra and Inov-8's Trailroc range. I didn't test these shoes in thick mud or on grassy sloops as they weren't designed for such terrain, but if Altra came up with a shoe that did, I'd have now hesitation of donning a pair as quickly as they'd get realised.
Summary
The fastest and most comfortable shoes I've tried on rugged terrain.
Pros - As comfortable as smoking the pipe of piece whilst laying on the sofa (Couch if you're American) watching the Yellow Submarine and they descend quicker than Penelope Pitstop's pants in a brothel
Cons - Personally I would like a couple more millimeters on the lugs. (but I can live without that).
Well Done Altra!!!
